When Wreckateer was first revealed at E3 2012 I couldn’t help wondering how well the game would utilise the Kinect as majority of the Xbox Live Arcade Kinect themed titles haven’t shaped up too well. The end result is a missed opportunity, as sadly Wreckateer also suffers due to the Kinect functionality.
Wreckateer is a Kinect exclusive title, and overall is a very close representation of Angry Birds, minus the enjoyment. The gameplay, even though it does have similarities to the aforementioned game, does offer a new dynamic experience and various different gameplay mechanics that at times make you forget at how flimsy the Kinect controls are overall.
The game tries to follow a storyline but it’s so linear that there is no reason to pay any attention at all to the two main characters, Wreck and Tinker, who are engineers. The storyline tasks you with destroying the Green Goblins who are taking over your land. Your objective is simple, attack and cause as much destruction as possible. At first it’s a very interesting concept and is surprisingly fun but after an hours play you will start to realise that the game is very repetitive and rarely offers anything worthwhile to encourage you further. After arriving at stage 2-1, I started to notice how unreliable the Kinect controls can be, especially when you unlock the ‘Split shot’, as even though the prompt on-screen to activate the Split Shot seems simple enough, it ended up being hit or miss if it would trigger.
Wreckateer’s gameplay while very basic can at times be enjoyable. The game includes various different types of shots such as the previously mentioned ‘Split Shot’. The way in which you interact is through use of the catapult. The Kinect requires you to walk towards the sensor with your hands in front, and once the catapult is grasped, walk back as far as you can to charge your shot. Once you have the right angle and power. open your arms like you’re about to hug your TV and the catapult will launch the shot. If you fail the shot you can earn a retry shot if you manage to hit a goblin head on. It is simple and at times works well, but the majority of the time my experience with the Kinect resulted in it the special shots only working around 30% of the time. I was also playing in the correct amount of space and was fully mobile to waltz around the room. It just seems the Kinect still suffers with simple hand and arm movements.
The game does offer a lot for players who are willing to strain themselves and go the extra mile with a title that relies heavily on Kinect functionality but it can’t perform to the fluent standard that you are probably expecting. The game isn’t all bad however, and if you ignore the terrible voice acting, very liner story and fiddly controls, the game itself would be very decent. There are many times the game does work and when it does it’s very enjoyable, but that can’t be said for its local multiplayer option.